In a world facing challenges such as polarization and social fragmentation, education becomes a powerful tool for fostering trust, understanding, and collaboration. By nurturing critical thinking skills and encouraging exposure to diverse perspectives, we can empower future generations to navigate complexity, embrace diversity, and build cohesive, resilient communities.
The Unlock Education Partnership
Unlock Education is a three-year partnership between the AXA Foundation for Human Progress and Ashoka that aims to expand innovative education solutions, helping young people develop empathy, resilience, and collaboration skills to build inclusive, cohesive communities and become active citizens.
A Community Driven Global Initiative
Over the next three years, the partnership will expand to France, Belgium, Türkiye, Germany, Thailand, the UK, and Brazil—building a global community of changemakers who address polarization and social fragmentation through education. This community will include:
Changemakers in Education: Ashoka will identify and support 30 high-impact Ashoka Fellows whose systemic solutions are transforming education into early childhood, primary, and secondary levels, ensuring young people gain the skills and resources they need to thrive as engaged contributors to society.
AXA Collaborators: They will have the opportunity to engage with the world of social entrepreneurship, develop new skills such as systemic thinking and collaborative leadership, and explore ways to support Ashoka Fellows in advancing innovative solutions in education.
Over the next three years, we will support individuals and build alliances to advance the following priorities:
Early Childhood (0–6 years)
Nurturing empathy and curiosity, while supporting academic readiness and emotional and physical well-being.
Primary Years (7–13 years)
Promoting collaboration and nurturing environments where every child feels safe and valued. Developing critical thinking, creativity, ethical awareness, civic responsibility, and autonomy.
Adolescence (14–18 years)
Fostering youth leadership, civic engagement, and adaptability through concrete opportunities that promote continued education and help prevent school dropout.
Our Educational Priorities
The Ashoka Fellows supported through this partnership, are addressing some of the most critical topics within today's educational ecosystem:
Strengthen Early Foundations
Building strong early foundations in language and core skills is vital for lifelong learning and inclusion. Early support helps children communicate, connect, and succeed. For example, play-based learning, early reading, and family engagement ensure every child starts school ready to thrive and reduce learning gaps.
Support Healthy Early Development
Early childhood is a critical stage when children discover the world, build curiosity, and form their first relationships. Proper nutrition, rest, and emotional support at this age foster healthy development and lifelong resilience. For example, community nutrition programs, parent networks promoting healthy routines, and play-based learning models help every child thrive from the very start.
Build Inclusive & Caring Learning Environments
In the first years of school, children broaden their world, build social skills, and learn to respect differences. Inclusive environments where every child feels safe and valued foster empathy and teamwork. For example, class councils and community projects help children practice collaboration, responsibility, and active citizenship—shaping future leaders who value inclusion and social cohesion.
Enhance Youth Leadership
To counter civic disengagement and polarization, education should empower youth to tackle real-world challenges through student-led initiatives and peer networks. This means giving them real roles in decision-making and leadership at school and in their communities. For example, student councils with voting power, youth-led community projects, and student involvement in designing school spaces or mentoring programs.
Guide Pathways & Expand Opportunities
Strong orientation programs help students explore their talents, while mentoring, personalized learning, and wellbeing support prevent dropouts. Expanding access to internships, career guidance, and further education ensures every student can pursue a meaningful future. For example, school–business partnerships, youth-led peer support networks, and community projects that build both career skills and civic responsibility.
Build Supported & Connected Ecosystems
Building connections across schools, families, businesses, and civil society is key to overcoming fragmentation and advancing equity. Cross-sector collaboration builds trust, aligns resources, and turns education into a platform for social cohesion. For example, schools can partner with businesses for mentoring, work with civic groups on inclusion projects, and engage families as co-educators.
Expand Access & Addressing Equity Gaps
When education fails to ensure equal opportunities, divisions deepen and trust erodes. Promoting equity strengthens social cohesion by empowering all youth to contribute. For example, expanding access to quality learning and mentorship, closing the digital divide, advancing gender equity in STEM, and improving financial literacy.
Development Of A New Skillset: Behavioral, Soft Skills
Closing early developmental gaps requires prioritizing skills like empathy, resilience, and critical thinking from the start, through play-based learning and community engagement:
Early Childhood (0–6): Empathy, self-regulation, emotional literacy, and inclusion.
Education systems should help teachers rediscover their purpose and strengthen their role in society, empowering them to lead innovation in the classroom and beyond. For example: peer mentorship between teachers, innovation labs to test new methods, educators leading community projects, and teachers mentoring students in leadership and civic engagement.
Redefine Success in Schools & The Ways Young People Are Assessed
To tackle inequality, education must move beyond standardized tests and embrace holistic assessments that value soft skills, effort, and each learner’s unique potential. Innovative approaches—like project-based evaluations, peer feedback, and reflective self-assessments—help recognize diverse learning styles and promote inclusive growth.
Recommend A Potential Ashoka Fellow
If you’d like to recommend a social entrepreneur working on the educational priorities of the Unlock Education partnership, we welcome any information you can share about their work. Please, also review the selection criteria carefully to ensure the nominee aligns with Ashoka's understanding of a system-changing social entrepreneur.
You will find below Ashoka’s global nomination form, available to candidates worldwide. Submissions are automatically directed to the corresponding Ashoka local office based on each candidate’s country of impact.
In a fast-changing, polarized world, innovative education is vital to prepare future generations—this partnership with AXA supports a more resilient, united society.
Arnaud Mourot
Ashoka VP and Ashoka Changemaker Companies Global Lead
Education is the path to knowledge; it's also key to build stronger, more resilient, and inclusive societies. This partnership reflects our belief that cross-sector collaboration can drive lasting, positive change.
Clément Rouxel
General Delegate of the AXA Foundation for Human Progress
Ashoka and AXA share a common belief. The belief that education is a fundamental prerequisite for a resilient society. Education reduces inequalities, empowers individuals and equips future generations to address complex challenges.
Etienne Bouas-Laurent
Chief Executive Officer at AXA Belgium
We admire the entrepreneurial and innovative spirit, typical of Ashoka Fellows. I am convinced that our leaders at AXA will be inspired and motivated by their success stories…
Dina Iosifidis
Sustainability & Reputation Manager at AXA Belgium
Ashoka's Vision: Everyone A Changemaker
At Ashoka, we believe that the solutions to today’s most pressing challenges lie within all of us. Our mission is to build a world where every person has the confidence, skills, and opportunity to drive positive change, a world where everyone is a changemaker.
For over 40 years, Ashoka has supported pioneering social entrepreneurs and empowered young people, educators, and organizations to rethink how we live, learn, and work together.
Ashoka Changemaker Companies
See how we are embedding a culture of changemaking into business to accelerate social and environmental impact.
We’re just getting started and need your help in discovering the next generation of Ashoka Fellows driving innovation in education. Don’t hesitate—reach out to us today!
